Tales of the Past
by Wind Wanderer
Summary: Legolas has known Aragorn for years. With the death of Gandalf fresh on the fellowships mind, an embracing story at the Ranger's expence is just what is needed. Estel story.


We~ll, I should be working on a literature paper. Two actually and a French project. AND I should be working on my other stories. Ah well, I love little Estel stories, so I am writing this. This came to me in one sitting and I hope you like it.

* * *

It had been two days of hard traveling since the fellowship had narrowly escaped the Mines of Moria. Aragorn was working hard to keep the weary fellowship moving and ahead of the pursuit. It was a hard task, as the Man was suffering from the death of his old friend. Legolas had not known the wizard as the hobbits or Aragorn had, but the loss of such as wise and dignified companion was still heart breaking.

Finally, the group could go no longer. Unlike Legolas and Aragorn, the rest of the group did not have the stamina to travel as far as they could. But they had done well despite that fact, they had done well. They had managed to reach a sizable patch of pines which would offer their campsite shelter from any outside observer. With reluctance, Aragorn deemed it safe for a small fire.

"We should get sleep while we can," Aragorn told the group, "I will take the first watch."

Sam sat down on a patch of grass. Staring up at the clear sky, he sighed, "If we were home, this would be the perfect night for a tale over a good drink."

"If you got something to tell, feel free," Boromir muttered as he rolled onto his side, "If not, go to sleep."

"I can tell you a story," Legolas stated from his spot around the fire.

His companions turned toward the elf. Their eyes were still sad, but a hint of interest had relieved the torment that had clouded their eyes for days. Frodo though, only stared at the ground with a haunted look which Legolas thought would never leave the Halfling for the rest of his life. Sadly, there would probably be more of a shadow in those eyes before this incident was through. Sitting beside the ring bearer, Aragorn gave his old friend a soft smile.

That smile vanished like a mist against the sun when a mischievous gleam appeared on the elf's pale face, "I have known Aragorn since he was very small, and such a troublesome little mortal he was.

"In fact, I remember a situation with an indecent elven maiden, a pair of embarrassed twins, and a rather dirty dog." Legolas stared right at Aragorn, his face blank except for his eyes, which danced at the Ranger's shock.

"Oh, this is interesting. You got to tell us," Pippin bounced a little on the log he was on with Merry. The two troublemakers nodded at one another.

"You will not," Strider muttered as he finally broke from his shock. "You swore to keep that secret!"

"You must tell us, if Aragon is so upset about this incident," Boromir smirked at the Ranger's discomfort.

A soft voice called out from Aragorn's side, "Was it that bad?"

Aragorn looked down at Frodo; the hobbit was looking up at him. He had barely spoken since escaping the mine. That the Baggins was taking an interest at all made it impossible for the Man to deny. The Ranger sighed, "Fine, but after this I believe that our friends will enjoy another story. One about a curtain elf prince."

Legolas paused, tying to gauge if the human was bluffing. Certainly there were stories from his younger years, some of which Elrond's twins may have told to their young foster brother. In the end, the hopeful looks of the fellowship won against the instinct of self preservation.

"Whatever you say, mellon-nin." Legolas sat a little straighter as he began retelling the events from all those years ago.

* * *

Legolas pulled himself through the gates of Imladris. It after months of facing the spiders which infested his home, his father had decided the prince deserved a break. He had not been willing to wait to see his old friends, fearing that some surprise would force his trip to be postponed. There had been times when unforeseen obstacles had kept Legolas from a visit for decades. But now he was going to be free of his usual tasks, and after a few hours of sleep he would be hunting with the twins. Perhaps he could-

Those thoughts were cut off as a small projectile barreled into his legs with enough force to send the blonde prince and the small figure tumbling, so that the world was a mesh of green, blue, black and yellow. The sky above him continued to spin from the spot he had landed. A groan came from the slight weight which lay across his chest. Legolas felt the creature move, crawling up his chest. A small, dark head appeared in his vision. A pair of worried gray eyes met his blue.

The child crooked his head, "Are you okay?"

"Estel! The call of one of the twins came from somewhere close to Legolas' feet. Moments after the child looked around, he was lifted off of Legolas. He was quickly met by the faces of Elrohir and Elladan, the latter of whom was holding the child under one arm.

"I think we found the ultimate weapon, brother," Elrohir stated. He fell to his knee, bringing him to the child's level. Making a mock bow, the elf crowed, "All hail the great defender."

Elladan smirked, "At least against grouchy princes."

The two snickered as they looked at their younger friend. The boy tried to wiggle out of Elladan's grasp, "'Dan, let me down!"

Elladan did not comply, but he reached out a hand to Legolas as he jiggled the boy a little, "Sorry little one, I have to protect our fair princess here."

Legolas growled at his old friend as he swatted the offered hand away. Climbing to his feet, the prince wiped grass off of himself. Now that the child Estel was no longer hovering above him, he could see the child better. Like Elrohir and Elladan, the boy was dressed in the colors of the House of Elrond. Yet it was obvious that Estel was a human child, Legolas was not sure how old the child would be. He did not have a great deal of interaction with humans, let alone small ones.

Elladan laughed at Legolas' annoyance. Flipping Estel so that he was looking at him upside down, he gave the boy a mocking stern face, "Now Estel, if you are going to attack Legolas, you have to make sure it is horribly embarrassing. And laugh in his face."

"I doubt that your father would approve of that. Now who is this child?" Legolas stared hard. For the life of him, he could not understand why he had wanted to see these two.

"Did you not get our note? We sent it years ago," noting the blonde's blank stare, Elrohir sighed, "This is Estel, our brother."

Elladan finally gave in to the boy's demands to be released. Legolas watched with apprehension as the child sped over to him. This time, the boy did not bowl the prince over, but stopped in front of him.

Those gray eyes regarded him gravely, "I'm sorry I hit you Legless."

With that apology, the boy turned and bolted like a spooked deer. The twins broke down laughing at the prince's thunderstruck expression.

Legolas yelled at the direction the boy had gone, "My name is not Legless!"

* * *

"Wait, you're telling us that you were called Legless?" Merry cackled at the dark look on the elf's face. Pippin joined his friend at the prince's discomfort.

Aragorn removed his hand from his face, where it had been since the story had begun. He had to smile slightly at the fact that the usually distinguished prince had put his foot into his mouth. Despite the embarrassment, Aragorn had to admit that the story was helping the group's spirit.

"Can I return to the story," the icy glare that the two hobbits received was enough to freeze a horde of orcs. They nodded quickly.

As Legolas began to talk again, he had to ignore Gimli's snort of laughter as he muttered, "Princess."

* * *

Legolas placed his bag in the guest room of the Last Homely House. The sons of Elrond had explained that the boy was an orphan their father had taken in while he was very young. Why a great man like Lord Elrond would take in a stray human was beyond the prince. His father would never have done anything like this.

Estel had not crossed Legolas' path since their first encounter. For all the reassurances of Elrohir and Elladan that the child was quite an amazing child, Legolas doubted it. He had never met a human that had made any great impression.

A yell from outside drew Legolas' attention to the open window. Glancing out, he saw that Estel was standing in the courtyard, calling for something. Legolas watched, mildly curious when a large white creature ran toward the boy. His heart almost stopped when he saw the creature leap at the boy. Turning, he grabbed his bow and turned, ready to kill the white hulk. Laughter filled the courtyard as the boy was pushed over by the large dog. It was this laughter that stopped the prince from releasing the arrow.

"Legolas, we are go-" Elrohir stepped into the room as Legolas lowered the bow. "What are you doing, mellon-nin?"

"I thought," Legolas pointed outside, "I thought that _thing_ was a wild animal."

"What, Gwaurant? He's harmless. When Estel was a bit younger he used to ride the brute." Elrohir watched the dog nock the boy to the ground again in order to lick his face, "As I was saying, Elladan and I were heading for the river for a swim. Care to join us?"

He had to admit that a nice swim would help his stiff muscles, "Alright, lead the way."

Legolas took one last look out the window. Both boy and dog were gone. Shaking his head, Legolas followed the dark haired man out of the room.

* * *

The elves were lounging in the cool waters, content in each others company. They had chosen a section of the river which was under a break in the green canopy above them, allowing the sun's warm rays to hit them as they swam. The sound of girls upriver, near the waterfall, flowed softly with the current. As any relatively young males would, their conversation turned to women.

Legolas stopped when he thought he heard one of the girls say "Estel!" before Elladan covered the conversation with a laugh.

"Where is your 'brother'," Legolas asked. He did not miss the slightly disgusted look his tone earned him.

"He went off with Gwaurant, probably tracking some hares," Elrohir offered.

A shriek rolled down the water from the waterfall. Rising quickly, the men started for their weapons. Another shriek came, this time just around the bend. The sight of a naked elf woman was not what the friends expected. The woman did not notice the others until she had ran into the twins. Legolas had a sense of déjà vu as the two were crushed under the indecent woman.

"Gwaurant, no!" Estel called as a muddy creature turned the bend. The dog jumped onto the pile of naked elves. Just as he had done in the courtyard, the dog went to work licking each of their faces with gusto.

Estel rushed over, pushing the dog in order to get him off of the red faced elves who were trying to get out from under the dog and keep themselves partially decent. When the dog finally moved, the human child went tumbling into the muddy bank.

Without the dog's weight, the three elves were able to detangle. The maiden's embarrassed blush darkened as she saw who it was she had been on. "Perverts!" she screamed, smacking the twins before rushing for cover.

"ESTEL!" the boy had been trying to sneak away when the irritated elves turned to the cause of their discomfort. With the pounds of mud caking his body, the boy was unable to outrun his brothers.

Legolas had not laughed this hard in centuries.

* * *

"Uh," Aragorn tried to bury his face farther into his hand. Legolas laughed softly at the memory as the others looked at the great Ranger with amusement.

"That girl never forgave that dog for the insult," Legolas finished. He felt a twinge of triumph when Frodo managed a slight smile at the image.

"Enough of this, we have a long day ahead of us. Get some sleep," Aragorn ordered, glaring at the less mature members of the fellowship. He looked at Legolas, "You will get yours later."

* * *

Stupid Thanksgiving break ending. I want it back, but I will have to just suck it up. Hope you enjoyed my little story and sorry for the mini rant.


End file.
